Princess of Death

by Cortney Pearson

  “I beg your pardon, Captain Kelsey,” the king said in distaste. Princess Soraya’s brow knitted, but she didn’t resume her seat. She kept to her feet beside her father. “To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?”

  “Psst!” Lenora waved Cali over.

  The serving girl’s interruption was like the slap of a ruler. Cali hadn’t realized she’d stepped through the columns for a better view. She had been staring—at the room, the sea, the guests—for far too long.

  “You can’t stand there and gawk. Stay back here!” She ushered Cali over to the side of the serving table.

  “I’m amazed you can afford such extravagancy,” Captain Kelsey said, staring down his nose at the gathered crowd. Several forks slowed. People stared in frightened curiosity at the intruder and his blatant rudeness.

  The king reddened. Whether by shame or rage, Cali couldn’t tell. “Perhaps we can take this conversation to a more…private venue?” he offered.

  Captain Kelsey chuckled, tucking a ringed hand to his belt. “Come now, Emir. Your people should know you’re about to lose your kingdom to me.”

  Gasps swept across the room, adding gooseflesh to Cali’s arms. Not only had he addressed the king so informally in front of his guests, but he had also lashed out the blatant threat like a brandished knife. Who was this man? What was going on?

  “They should also know I’ve accepted your invitation to be a guest at the palace.”

  The king gaped. “I haven’t given you any invitation of the kind.”

  Captain Kelsey lowered his head, eyeing the serving ware before returning his gaze to the king. “A glance out your window will show my armada at bay. They’re ready to attack on my command, Emir. When you see this, coward that you are, it will coerce you to offer an alternative to war. And so, I accept your invitation.”

  Cali longed to step forward again for another view out the windows. She hadn’t seen an armada when she’d glanced last, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t one.

  “Are there really ships out there?” she whispered.

  “There are,” Lenora said. “I saw them arrive and wondered what was happening.”

  That must’ve been why the king had had such a sour set on his face. He knew the captain had his shores surrounded. Then why go on with the banquet?

  “A peaceful alliance,” Captain Kelsey said in response to a question Cali hadn’t heard the king pose. “My son and I will live as guests in your palace, while you and I discuss the terms of our children’s union.”

  “What union is that?” King Emir asked.

  “You have a beguiling daughter.” The captain’s statement was bold and smug.

  Soraya’s eyes widened. Pink painted her cheeks. She lowered her head, though Cali got the impression it wasn’t from being bashfully flattered. It was more like a desire to hide in plain sight.

  “I have a winsome son, and his rightful place is to rule his own kingdom. You may be ready to pass yours off, but I am not. The beauty of this is your daughter need not lose her place. Our kingdoms can align.”

  Captain Kelsey took the king’s goblet, insolently putting it to his lips. Though Cali saw only the side of him, she could imagine him smirking, as though barging in and demanding a place at the palace and a marriage between his son and the princess were things already entitled to him.

  The king glanced out the open doors leading to the balcony behind him. Many of the other nobles tipped upward from their seats enough to do the same. He glanced down at Soraya, then out across at his people. Cali cringed, swimming in the tension. She tried to think of what her father would do in this situation. Call the guards, probably. Have the blackguard escorted out. Prepare the kingdom’s army for the confrontation at the shore.

  Or was that what she would do? The thought caught her by surprise.

  The king’s face fell. His countenance dripped with defeat. “You are welcome to stay—”

  “What?” Cali mumbled.

  “—and we will discuss your demands in a more private setting.”

  “Why not fight?” Cali muttered under her breath. She didn’t know much about Lunae Lumen’s customs, but the king shouldn’t allow an imposter to barge in and make demands this way.

  Lenora raised an eyebrow at her. “As if you know anything of such matters.”

  “I know a king should defend his kingdom at all costs.”

  “And who is to say our king isn’t doing just that? Best not let others hear you criticize him. You don’t know what’s going on in his mind.”

  Cali knew what should be going on in his mind. While Lenora left the safety of the columns to answer the summons of a woman waving her goblet at them, Cali fumed.

  Captain Kelsey took the thick, meaty ram’s leg straight from the king’s plate. “Very good of you. My son and I will present ourselves at your mercy first thing tomorrow morning.”

  He snapped off a large bite, chewing with venomous intentions and surveying the room with a gratified smile on his face as though he’d won the battle before it had even begun.

  Chapter 5

  The dinner continued in a much more solemn fashion. Laughter was lighter and more careful, as though the sound itself tiptoed around on the king’s remaining good graces. His face stayed downcast, and he ate not another bite. Instead, he stared at the ram’s leg Captain Kelsey had returned to the king’s plate before he’d sauntered out of the dining hall.

  Princess Soraya kept her eyes on her own gilded plate, and Cali couldn’t help wondering what was going on in her mind. She’d basically just been pawned off on the eve of the announcement of her coronation.

  The meal finished. The noblemen led their ladies from the dining hall. Many cast wary glances behind and paused to stare at the ships out the window. Before long, the only remaining occupants of the room were the extremely silent royal family and the servants bustling about to clear the tables.

  Cali hung close to an older man pushing a cart with a wide tub for the soiled dishes to be placed in. She captured glances whenever she passed and, sure enough, across the ocean and positioned at every angle, there was a fleet of imposing ships with wide, dark masts the color of wine and shadows. Anchored near the coast, it painted a picture of devastation.

  Who was Captain Kelsey that he had this many ships at his command? He’d said something about uniting their kingdoms, about not wanting to relinquish his to his son. He was stealing King Emir’s kingdom so he and his son could both rule?

  King Emir’s deep voice could be heard amid the clanking dishes being gathered, but Princess Soraya sat resolutely in her chair with her arms folded, refusing to move. It was clear he wanted to speak with her, but she wouldn’t respond.

  “Come now,” he said a little louder, placing a coercing hand beneath her elbow. She jerked free of him. “Soraya, there is no need to be so petulant—”

  “You are a coward,” she shouted. The steam from the kettle had finally boiled over.

  “What was I to do—allow him to attack our kingdom in the middle of our celebration? I had guests to think of. Not to mention you. I left things open for discussion to placate him, dear one, nothing more. We were in the middle of a feast. I couldn’t very well get caught in an argument when we had such an audience. All I could think of was coaxing him away quietly.”

  “And now your people also think you’re a coward. That was a prime opportunity to show them they could have confidence in you! Instead, you submitted to Captain Kelsey’s demands with your tail between your legs.”

  Cali lowered dishes into the tub as silently as she could, not wanting to miss a beat of their argument. She agreed with Princess Soraya. The king should have done more; he should have devoutly refused to allow the man to make any kind of demands.

  “He would have signaled an attack,” the king said feebly.

  “Not if you had sent the guards after him! Not if he wasn’t permitted to leave the grounds to give such a command.”

  “Soraya.”

  She r
ose, face livid, nostrils flaring. “You didn’t defend me, Father. Not your kingdom, and not me. Instead, you sounded open to this union between me and his rascal of a son. I won’t be a part of it. I refuse to do as you or he wishes.” She threw her napkin down, pushed aside her chair, and stormed to the exit behind the table.

  The king stared after his daughter for a few sad moments before following after her.

  “That was something,” said the man holding the tub for Cali.

  “Do they argue often?” She placed a stack of plates within, flinching at the sauce on her finger.

  “Only when they disagree. Which is over everything,” another young woman said with a smirk. She and the man exchanged sniggers of laughter.

  “Enough,” the plump, white-haired housekeeper boomed. “You there. The late one this morning.”

  Cali pricked at the reference. No one had ever addressed her in such a way. Ever. Then again, no one in this place knew she was also a princess. She wondered if any of them knew Zara existed at all.

  “It’s Ana, ma’am,” Cali said, trying her best to sound deferential. She needed to lay low. Bide her time until she could sneak away.

  “Ana, get to the kitchens and start washing those. Do you think you can stand around forever?”

  Biting against a chafing remark, Cali took the tub from the man. It was large and heavy—heavier than anything she was used to carrying. Her arms ached by the time she reached the bottom of the stairs. She peered right, then left, trying to decipher which direction the kitchen lay. After she dropped off the tableware, she would make her way out. She wasn’t here to wash dishes.

  She had to find the nearest meadow. Or perhaps an apothecary. Surely finding someone who would have already heard of the plants she was after would be the best option.

  After wandering around in frustration, Cali was tempted to drop the tub of dirty dishes in the hall, make her way to the room she’d changed in, and redress before leaving, but the sound of clanking dishes and loud voices resonating from a nearby doorway led her in that direction.

  She pushed through into a face-full of steaming air. Women in aprons, with their hair pulled tightly back or tucked beneath kerchiefs, bent over basins of water. Some stirred fabric with wooden spoons the size of staffs, while others bent with their arms half-concealed in foam.

  “Can you believe the nerve of Captain Kelsey?” one woman with thick arms and carrot-orange hair asked. “What does he mean by marching in during the middle of a meal and embarrassing His Majesty like that?”

  “Like nothing I’ve heard of before, certainly,” the woman beside her said. She stood at the ready with a towel to dry the dishes when the first one finished.

  “Who is he?” Cali found herself asking. She lowered the tub of dishes beside the others on a sodden wooden countertop. “Captain Kelsey, I mean.”

  The two women gaped in her direction. “You must be new around these parts if you’ve never heard of the pirate king.”

  Cali’s heart clattered in her chest. Her vision went starkly white. Immediately, the image of black sails and a flag displaying a fisted hand flashed in her mind. The pirate king who haunted Zara’s shores was Merritt Drachen. This Captain Kelsey couldn’t be the same man, could he? It was impossible to sail beyond the boundary, just as she’d thought it impossible to cross over it.

  Captain Kelsey certainly looked the part, with his tanned, sun-spotted skin, rustic clothing, and carefree, entitled attitude, but fear gripped Cali’s every nerve, the way it always did whenever she thought of the pirates who scavenged and plundered unsuspecting ships and sea ports. And here she’d been in the same room with one.

  “Why would he want this kingdom?” Cali asked. “If he’s a pirate, wouldn’t he prefer to keep to the sea?”

  The women laughed. “How naïve you are,” one said.

  “Why wouldn’t he want this kingdom?” the other asked. “Lunae Lumen has a wealth of exactly what pirates crave.”

  “Treasure?” Cali offered.

  “Our diamond and copper mines are unprecedented—or they were until the mines caved a few years ago. Not to mention the rice exports. Oh, and let’s not forget the land owned by King Emir is riddled with magic. It’s in the very dirt we stand on!”

  Jewels, land, magic.

  “But didn’t you hear, Dorin?” the carrot-haired woman went on, speaking to her friend as though Cali weren’t there. “He doesn’t want the kingdom for himself. He wants it for his son.”

  Cali had the feeling she’d stepped into a battle she had no wish to be a part of. She had her own problems at home to worry about without getting fused in the problems of this kingdom. It was already midday. Evening would fall soon, and she still had no idea where to begin searching for the plants Lyric had sent her to find.

  “Can either of you tell me where I can find an apothecary?” She knew the change in topic was sudden. The ladies apparently thought so, too. Dorin’s gaze skimmed to Cali’s toes and back up again.

  “You running sick, girl?” she asked.

  Cali sensed them inching away from her, if not physically, then in spirit. “No, no. I just have an interest in the profession, and I’d like to ask a few questions.”

  “You, a servant, have an interest in being an apothecary?” The two women erupted into laughter.

  Cali opened her mouth to insist she was no servant, to demand they show her the respect she deserved. Their words stung. She’d never encountered people who didn’t tiptoe and defer to her every move. Cali thought of how upset Darren would get with her, of how angry he’d been the day she’d ordered him to remain at her side. She was beginning to understand that anger now.

  “What is going on?” The housekeeper stormed through the door and into the steam. “Where is that girl—the pretty new one?”

  Cali faced her, ready to voice her infuriation to anyone who would listen.

  The housekeeper didn’t give her a chance to speak. “There you are! Come with me this instant.”

  “What for?”

  “No questions, girl. The king demands your presence.”

  Cali’s mouth dropped. She turned to Dorin and the other dishwasher, to the women laundering fabric and clothing in the oversized wooden basins, but all focused on their tasks with heads bent low.

  “Mine? Why?”

  “You have blue eyes? Pale skin? Dark hair?”

  Cali gritted her teeth. Did she really have to answer something so obvious?

  The housekeeper took her silence as a confirmation. “Then you’re exactly the girl the king is requesting.”

  What could the king possibly require such specifications for? Her heart lumped in her throat. She’d heard of other men of power requiring the presence of young ladies. Was this king one who preyed on women for his own pleasure? They thought she was a servant, true, but she would never submit to that.

  “Come along with me,” the housekeeper said, not brooking any further arguments.

  Chapter 6

  Cali had no choice but to follow. If a servant fought a direct command from the king back home, it was enough to have them thrown in the palace prison cells or have one’s head dangled in the stocks. Cali certainly had no time for that humiliation. She would see what the king’s request was. If it was salacious in nature, she would make her position adamantly clear.

  The housekeeper led her through a series of winding halls and stairs until they landed upon what Cali thought was the third floor. Sapphire-blue carpets edged with gold lined the center of the halls. Squat columns topped with curve-tailed mermaids marked every few feet, and the very ocean was in the walls. Glorious blue tanks were chiseled into round-topped openings in the stone, each displaying miniature worlds of colored rocks, tiny castles, and schools of fish. Tropical fish in shades of sunny yellow with feathered fins, along with blue and magenta fish with fins like palm fronds and even orange fish with puffing cheeks.

  “Where are we going?” Cali asked, tearing her gaze away from the glowing tanks.r />
  “Hush.”

  The housekeeper followed the circular curve of the hallway before stopping at the sixth door on the left. A built-in shelf housed a lovely spray of blue and yellow flowers. Cali was beginning to assume these were the colors of the kingdom.

  When the housekeeper pounded a swift knock on the polished wooden door, it opened immediately.

  Cali swallowed the lump in her throat. Three other young ladies stood in the spacious antechamber. The air was incensed with sandalwood and saffron. Whitewashed walls were decorated with golden frames depicting scenes from exotic fairy lands, and benches sprinkled with colorful pillows were situated around a star-shaped table topped with orange flowers resembling puffs of stained cotton.

  The sight was so staged it made her long for home with unexpected homesickness. And Darren… How was he faring?

  She couldn’t yield to the king’s wishes. If he was as weak as he appeared, then forcing innocent young women to succumb to him was probably his only way of feeling powerful. Cali would band with these other young ladies. She would fight tooth and nail before she allowed this weak, pitiful king to touch her.

  “Stand there,” the housekeeper commanded.

  Cali pulled in a deep breath, not sure how much longer she could endure these direct commands. She couldn’t think of a way to bring up the apothecary or the plants she needed, so she fell in line as ordered. One had sallow skin. Another had a prominent nose. The last had ears sticking out just enough to be unattractive.

  The door to the left opened. The king entered, a luxurious chamber flashing behind him before the door closed.

  Cali stepped forward, ready to make her case known. She was no servant. She’d traveled here from Zara in need of their assistance, and she refused to allow anyone to dominate her any longer. But when Soraya entered behind her father, Cali’s courage fought with her curiosity. She decided to bide her time at least long enough to figure out what was going on.

  Princess Soraya wore a flowing kaftan of blue with gold lace embroidered on the bodice. Its gossamer skirt was different from the wider ones Cali wore in Zara. Folding her arms in apparent defiance, the girl stood beside her father.